Spider-Man 3

Sam Raimi does a competent job on Spider-Man 3, but the franchise is getting a trifle tired. An indifferent script centres on the arachnoid Peter Parker (eternally youthful Tobey Maguire) being challenged by an old chum Harry (James Franco), who thinks Spidey killed his dad, the Green Goblin, the villain in Spider-Man 1. Peter's dull girlfriend (Kirsten Dunst) is seeing her Broadway singing career going pfft and he's been invaded by an alien parasite (grandson of the Blob) who brings out the worst in him.

In addition, Manhattan is also being menaced by a murderer who's escaped from jail and undergone 'demoleculisation' in a sandpit that has turned him into the metamorphosing Sandman. The 2002 original had shots with the Twin Towers removed. This film deliberately exploits post-9/11 angst with terrible things threatening people in glass skyscrapers. The movie's strong suit is the shock'n'awe of its special effects. Its weak suit is the attempts at emotional depth. Perhaps it's time for Spidey to close down his website.